About HMIS
The Washington State Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) collects data about homeless clients to shed light on the extent, characteristics, and causes of homelessness.
Reporting this data can help organizations by informing their funders, by providing the information necessary to make wise spending decisions, and by contributing to the larger national effort to measure the extent and impact of homelessness in America.
In February 2007, for the first time in more than 20 years, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported the number of people experiencing homelessness, both sheltered and unsheltered.
On any given night in this nation, there are approximately 750,000 people without a home. In Washington State alone there were 22,045 individuals counted as homeless one night in January 2007. Over the course of a year the total number of homeless persons in the state is estimated to be 40 to 50 thousand or more.
This data is available because of increasingly widespread HMIS implementation, as required by state and federal law.
Homeless service providers in Washington, such as emergency shelters, transitional housing, and supportive housing programs, collect information about their clients so that it can be matched with information from other providers in the state to get accurate counts of homeless clients and the services they need.
Learning about which services prove most helpful in ending homelessness and sharing this information with policymakers can improve both service and resource availability.
HMIS also benefits service agencies directly by enabling caseworkers to easily track client progress and make referrals to other programs.
For more information about Washington State HMIS, contact Mary Schwartz, HMIS Manager at 360/725-2982.
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CTED HMIS Status Overview (updated 12/20/2007):
The Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) released a Request for Proposals (RFP) on October 10, 2007 to select a commercial Homeless Management Information System. On December 19, 2007, following extensive review of written proposals, demonstrations, and references, Adsystech, Inc. was selected as the apparently successful vendor.
Adsystech provides HMIS and case management solutions for Continuums of Care and Community Action Programs in several states. Its most comparable HMIS implementation is for four collaborating continuums of care covering the Los Angeles, California area. Evaluators from local agencies, Safe Harbors, Whatcom County, and CTED were most appreciative of Adsystech’s strong commitment to their customers, their project management approach and experience, the HMIS’s mature set of features and reporting capabilities, and its flexible approach to data integration. Evaluators also included information technology experts and representatives of the state Department of Information Services who evaluated the system’s ability to meet operational, development, and state security standard requirements.
Next steps will include due diligence follow-up of the vendor’s proposal, contract negotiations, and final contract approvals. These are targeted for completion by early February 2008. The next month will also include planning for project start-up, communications with all stakeholders, and project team building.
Background:
CTED and its HMIS Collaboration partners including Safe Harbors (Seattle/King County) and the Balance of State counties are working together to acquire and implement a commercial Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) that will:
• Replace the limited and difficult to support HMIS currently in use
• Provide improved HMIS functionality
• Integrate data from all participating counties to enable county and state level reporting on homeless populations and services
• Provide a more flexible system that, in the future, will enable local agencies to use it to improve their business operations and as they collect federal, state, and county required data
• Allow reporting that supports measurement of progress on the ten year plan to address homelessness required by the Homelessness Housing and Assistance Act and meets county and local agency accountability and management needs.
Planning for this project began in 2006. Work through April 2007 included development of plans and the investment plan required by state Information Services Board policies. Investment plan reviews and approvals were completed by September 2007.
Estimated Project Milestones:
This project is expected to complete these key milestones by June 30, 2009:
1. Convert current HMIS system data about three months after project start.
2. Complete a pilot implementation about four months after project start.
3. Complete data integration proof of concept about four months after start.
4. Implement reporting tools and key reports about four months after start.
5. Train and implement Safe Harbors and Balance of State local agencies in groups staged from four to 12 months from project start.
6. Begin on-going implementation of Balance of State counties after current HMIS system users are converted to the new HMIS.
7. Complete data integration for Safe Harbors agencies between four to 12 months after project start.
8. Integrate data from counties using other HMIS systems between four months after project start and June 30, 2009.
9. Complete enhancements to the HMIS to make it easier to use between 12 months from project start and June 30, 2009.
10. Develop independent relationships between the HMIS vendor and interested counties to allow them to manage their future use of the HMIS while continuing to support federal and state data collection requirements by June 30, 2009.
Timeframes above are estimated and not yet firm as they will be confirmed by further planning and contract negotiations.
Schedule and Budget Status:
The procurement schedule established in the RFP has been met as planned. A project budget and implementation schedule will be finalized as part of contract negotiations.
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Request for Proposals for a Homeless Management Information System are posted below.
Any RFP questions should go to HMIS RFP coordinator Glenn Briskin at 360/561-0897.
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Balance of State Continuum of Care:
The Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development represents the smaller, rural counties across the state as part of the Balance of State Continuum of Care and provides HMIS services to this continuum. The following counties are eligible to participate in this Balance of State HMIS:
|
Adams |
Grant |
Pacific |
|
Asotin |
Grays Harbor |
Pend Oreille |
|
Benton |
Island |
San Juan |
|
Chelan |
Jefferson |
Skagit |
|
Clallam |
Kitsap |
Skamania |
|
Columbia |
Kittitas |
Stevens |
|
Cowlitz |
Klickitat |
Thurston |
|
Douglas |
Lewis |
Wahkiakum |
|
Ferry |
Lincoln |
Walla Walla |
|
Franklin |
Mason |
Whatcom |
|
Garfield |
Okanogan |
Whitman |
The Balance of State counties can participate in the state's HMIS by contacting CTED's HMIS Balance of State Coordinator Nick Mondau at 360/725-3028.
Instructions, Forms and Links for the Balance of State HMIS
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